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Research from the internet reveals two things that could possibly be true about fruit pectin. 1)PROLONGED heating will gradually destroy the pectin. 2)Pectin is related to improved flavour.

To test these ideas Anne cooked some frozen blueberries and added a little corn starch. Overcooking was avoided. The cooked blueberries were allowed to cool for a few minutes and then poured into a precooked pie shell. A layer of frozen Duke blueberries were added followed by another layer of cooked blueberries. Click on pictures to enlarge.

frozen berries added

more cooked berries

The pie was allowed to cool and refrigerated for a couple of hours. The picture below shows how nicely it jelled. The layer of frozen Duke berries added a nice texture to the pie. Taste tests are ongoing but results so far are promising. More tests are needed. This is fun!

This is Jack. He is the world’s biggest blueberry smoothie fan. He is taking a picture of our blueberry pectin experiment. First we blended some defrosted blueberries and waited about 15 minutes for the blended fruit to jell. Jelling indicates the presence of pectin.

Jack

blended blueberries

The tilted goblet shows how well the blended blueberries jelled.

jelled blueberries

Recent research has identified pectin as an effective agent in destroying cancer cells

Scientists at the University of Georgia in the US found when prostate cancer cells were exposed to pectin powder or heat-treated citrus pectin, up to 40 per cent died.

The cells were made to “commit suicide” through a natural process called apoptosis that halts the creation of tumours.

Other studies on rats and cell cultures suggest pectin also fights lung and colon cancers.